An annotated bibliography of Sappho in English

There have been many English translations of Sappho, and the following list is certainly not complete. It is arranged by date of publication, from oldest to most recent.

For ease of navigation, it is divided up chronologically based on milestones in the study of Sappho’s poetry.

• Before 1880
• 1880–1955
• 1955–2004
• 2004–

Precursors (before 1880)

Translations published before 1880, the first discovery of Sappho on an ancient papyrus. Only the fragments of Sappho quoted by ancient authors were known. Early translations contained only a handful of fragments, and were often grouped with other Greek lyric poets.

• Philips, Ambrose. “An Hymn to Venus”, Spectator 223, and “Sappho’s Ode”, Spectator 229 (1711). Translations of Sappho 1 and Sappho 31 first published in the Spectator in 1711.
• Addison, John. The Works of Anacreon Translated into English Verse. To Which Are Added the Odes, Fragments, and Epigrams of Sappho (1735). Includes translations of ten works with facing Greek text, of which only seven (frr. 1, 2, 31, 55, 102, 130–131 and 168B) are still attributed to Sappho.
• Fawkes, Francis. The works of Anacreon, Sappho, Bion, Moschus and Musæus (1789 [1760]). Initially published anonymously attributed to “A Gentleman of Cambridge”. The same fragments as Addison 1735, except omitting frr. 130–131.

Early discoveries (1880–1955)

1880 to 1955 covers the period of Sappho’s rediscovery on ancient papyrus, culminating in Edgar Lobel and Denys Page’s monumental Sappho and Alcaeus, the edition from which virtually all modern editions and translations can ultimately trace descent.

• Wharton, Henry Thornton. Sappho: Memoir, Text, Selected Renderings and a Literal Translation (1898 [1885]). Influential Victorian edition and translation. Went through four editions, with new material added in the second and third editions, and a biography of Wharton in the posthumous fourth edition. Alongside Greek texts and Wharton’s own prose translation were included a selection of previously-published verse translations.
• Carman, Bliss. Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics (1904).
• O’Hara, John Myers. The Poems of Sappho: An Interpretative Rendition into English (1910). Verse translation of Sappho’s poetry. As the subtitle suggests, some of these translation are very interpretative: two separate surviving lines mentioning Atthis become a single 24-line poem in rhyming couplets; a three-line fragment (i.a. 16) is transformed into forty lines in the style of (but not actually in) sapphic stanzas.
• Storer, Edward. Poems and Fragments of Sappho (1915). Translations of Sappho published first in the modernist poetry journal The Egoist and subsequently as a standalone booklet.
• Petersen, Walter. The Lyric Songs of the Greeks: The Extant Fragments of Sappho, Alcaeus, Alcman and the Minor Greek Monodists (1918). 100 fragments of Sappho, plus the three Greek anthology epigrams attributed to her. The "minor Greek monodists" of the subtitle are the poets Corinna, Praxilla, Telesilla, and Erinna.
• Stacpoole, H. de Vere. Sappho: A New Rendering (1920).
• Cox, Edwin Marion. The Poems of Sappho (1924). Greek text, prose and verse translations by Cox and selected historical verse translations.
• Miller, Marion Mills; Robinson, David Moore. The Songs of Sappho: Including the Recent Egyptian Discoveries, the Poems of Erinna, Greek Poems about Sappho, Ovid's Epistle of Sappho to Phaon (1925). Fairly literal prose translations by Robinson; much more interpretative verse translations by Miller.
• Edmonds, J. M. Lyra Graeca I: Terpander, Alcman, Sappho and Alcaeus (1928 [1922]). The first of Edmonds’ three-volume Loeb edition of the Greek lyric poets. Edmonds’ edition is notorious for its speculative translations, and was reviewed scathingly by Edgar Lobel. The Sappho was also published as a standalone volume, Sappho Revocata (1928) with illustrations by Vera Willoughby.
• Hill, P. Maurice. The Poems of Sappho (1954).

Modernity (1955–2004)

Translations published after Lobel & Page's edition of the Lesbian poets.

• Barnard, Mary. Sappho: A New Translation (1958).
• Lattimore, Richard. Greek Lyrics (1960 [1949]). The revised and expanded 1960 edition of Lattimore’s Greek Lyrics uses Lobel & Page and Diehl’s editions for its text of Sappho, and includes nine fragments (including one of the Greek Anthology epitaphs).
• Barnstone, Willis. Sappho (1965). With parallel Greek text. See Barnstone (2006) for a more recent translation by the same author.
• Davenport, Guy. Sappho: Songs and Fragments (1965).
• Groden, Suzy Q. The Poems of Sappho (1966). Eleven of Groden’s translations were previously published in the classics journal Arion in 1964.
• Roche, Paul. The Love Songs of Sappho (1966).
• Saklatvala, Beram. Sappho of Lesbos: Her Works Restored (1968). 138 poems translated into English with extremely conjectural restorations.
• Campbell, David A. Greek Lyric I: Sappho and Alcaeus (1990 [1982]). Modern Loeb edition, replacing Edmonds 1928. Greek text with reliable prose translations.
• Hamill, Sam. The Infinite Moment: Poems from Ancient Greek (1991). Anthology of ancient Greek poetry, including 16 fragments attributed to Sappho, as well as works by Alcaeus and Anacreon among others. Even major fragments omitted – no fr. 1 or fr. 16, for instance.
• Rayor, Diane. Sappho’s Lyre: Archaic Lyric and Women Poets of Ancient Greece (1991). Anthology including 68 fragments of Sappho.
• West, Martin L. Greek Lyric Poetry (1993). Collected fragments of Greek lyric poets in translation, including 89 of the most substantial fragments of Sappho and 11 Aeolic fragments of uncertain authorship.
• Davenport, Guy. 7 Greeks: Archilochos, Sappho, Alkman, Anakreon, Herakleitos, Diogenes, Herondas (1995). Very complete translation of Sappho (including 213 poems and fragments) based off of Davenport’s 1965 translation, alongside substantial translations of six other poets.
• Balmer, Josephine. Classical Women Poets (1996). Anthology of Greek and Latin women poets. Only eight fragments of Sappho.
• Miller, Andrew. Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation (1996). Anthology of nineteen archaic Greek lyricists, from Archilochus to Bacchylides. A relatively small selection of Sappho, including only 26 fragments.
• Chandler, Robert. Sappho: Selected Fragments (1998). Everyman Poetry edition.
• Salvidio, Frank. “Sappho Says...”: Poems and Fragments of Sappho of Lesbos (1999). Nearly 100 fragments arranged thematically by Salvidio.
• Carson, Anne. If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho (2002). With parallel Greek text.
• Plant, Ian M. Women Writers of Ancient Greece and Rome (2004). Anthology of works attributed to women writers in the ancient world, beginning with Sappho and ranging up to Eucharia (5^th or 6^th century AD). Includes 97 fragments, plus the three epigrams wrongly attributed to Sappho in the Greek Anthology.

21st-century discoveries (after 2004)

Translations post-dating the 2004 discovery which substantially added to our knowledge of fr. 58.

• Barnstone, Willis. Sweetbitter Love: Poems of Sappho (2006). With parallel Greek text. Abridged paperback edition published as The Complete Poems of Sappho (2009), with the same translations but without the Greek text; also omitted from the abridged edition are the epilogue and metrical guide by William McCulloch. A further abridged edition was published as The Pocket Sappho (2019).
• Poochigian, Aaron. Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments of Sappho (2009). Penguin Classics translation with an introduction by Carol Ann Duffy. A selection of Poochigian’s translations are collected in Come Close (2015), one of Penguin's Little Black Classics pocket editions.
• Daley, John. Poetry of Sappho (2011). Fine art book of translations, illustrated with previously unpublished woodcuts by Anita Cowles Rearden and etchings by Julie B. Mehretu. Introduction by Paige duBois. Many of Daley’s translations are reproduced in duBois’ monograph Sappho (2015) for the Understanding Classics series published by I. B. Tauris.
• Stephanides, Theodore. Sweet-voiced Sappho: Some of the Extant Poems of Sappho of Lesbos and Other Ancient Greek Poems (2015). Collection of Stephanides’ translations with facing ancient Greek text. As Stephanides died in 1983 this is not as up-to-date as the publication date might suggest.
• Duban, Jeffrey M. The Lesbian Lyre: Reclaiming Sappho for the 21st Century (2016). Cranky anti-leftist polemic. The middle section of the book provides Duban’s translations of five archaic lyric poets, including Sappho; these are revised versions of those published in Ancient and Modern Images of Sappho (1983).
• Duquesne, Terence. Sappho of Lesbos (2016 [1989]). Most recent edition revised and expanded based on the 2004 and 2014 discoveries.
• Freeman, Philip. Searching for Sappho: The Lost Songs and World of the First Woman Poet (2016). Primarily a monograph on Sappho, but includes what is described as “new translations of all of Sappho’s surviving poetry” (including the major 2014 discoveries, but not fully incorporating all of the new readings of previously-known fragments) as a sort of appendix.
• Lombardo, Stanley. Sappho: Complete Poems and Fragments (2016 [2002]). With introduction by Pamela Gordon. Most recent edition revised and expanded based on the 2004 and 2014 discoveries.
• Balmer, Josephine. Sappho: Poems & Fragments (2018 [1986]). Most recent edition revised and expanded based on the 2004 and 2014 discoveries.
• Powell, Jim. The Poetry of Sappho: An Expanded Edition, Featuring Newly Discovered Poems (2019 [2007]). Most recent edition revised and expanded based on the 2004 and 2014 discoveries.
• Preddle, Chris. Sappho: Songs and Poems (2022).
• Beachy-Quick, Dan. Wind—Mountain—Oak: The Poems of Sappho (2023).
• Rayor, Diane. Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works (2023 [2014]). With introduction and notes by André Lardinois.